


On the Riptide of Glass Hearts

by Emory7Claire



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mermaids, Anxious Katsuki Yuuri, Anxious Victor Nikiforov, Arctic Destruction, Assassination Attempt(s), Body Worship, Chris is Christa, Christa is a princess, Deal With It, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Falling In Love, Femslash, Global Warming, Goddesses, Great Barrier Reef, Guang-Hong is Jia, Hated Leader, I feel like I need to stress that more, I got lazy there at the end, It's just women, JJ is Jacqueline, Leo is Lena, Lesbians, Mermaid Society, Murder Mystery, No Lesbians Die, No Men, Oral Sex, Pacific ocean, Phichit is Phaychit, Political Discourse, Queen - Freeform, Secret Relationship, Sex, Short, Takeshi is Takeko, Technology, They're all lesbians, Toshiya is Toshiko, Tribadism, Tribbing, Victor is Victoria, Yakov is Yakova, Yurio is Yuria, Yuuri is Yuri, all women, arctic ocean, background religion, because I'm gay, because of course she is, council meetings, fish can change their genitals, have I mentioned how gay this is?, it's just a bit more advanced, mermaids can too, note the mature rating, seriously, sort of, we're getting serious this time around, why is it all women?, you may ask how they reproduce
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2018-11-19 11:47:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11312763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emory7Claire/pseuds/Emory7Claire
Summary: Yuri is the daughter of Hiroko, Lady of the Pacific Ocean. This is her first year at the annual Council where the Ladies of the oceans will meet with the Queen of the Seven Seas to discuss societal issues and treaties. She is merely there as a guest and is most excited to see her best friend.Victoria is the heir to Lady Anna of the Arctic Ocean, the lowest ranking Lady of them all. Her mother has begged her to find a wife of high status so the Queen will finally act upon the destruction of their ocean. Victoria agrees to try for this last year before she joins her mother in attendance at the meetings.Despite everything they tell themselves, Yuri and Victoria can't help but come together and begin to fall in love. But while they do, political discourse and assassination attempts on the Queen become commonplace, and they must decide how to act upon these things before their whole world is destroyed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everybody! Welcome to Emory's latest multi-chapter fic!  
> This is a Yuri!!! on Ice mermaid-au fic in which literally every character is a woman. Why? Because I said so and because I'm GAY!! (also, men are kinda boring but that's just my opinion and I'm veeeerrryyyy biased)  
> Anyway, this fic is gonna be shorter than On Horseback, my previous fic, because it's more story and less character driven. Plus, it has less sidetracked extra chapters that were really only there to explore characters and subplots. Hopefully, this one will also be better written because I'm actually taking my time to plan out the story and edit each chapter thoroughly before posting it.  
> For now, this first chapter will serve as an intro while I finish some promised stories from On Horseback and continue to work on this story. I hope you all enjoy this teaser for my latest fanfiction: On the Riptide of Glass Hearts!  
> P.S. Stick around the end for some important shit I'm not gonna get into because explaining a fantasy world is BOOOOORRRRIIIINNNNGGG and takes away from the story

The simultaneous shouting of her name and banging on her door is what finally rouses Yuri from sleep. Her tail lazily beats against the mattress as she rolls over and forces her eyes open.

“What?!” she groans at the door.

It opens to reveal her angry older sister and a harsh amount of light that has Yuri turning over to bury her face in her pillow. “Get up, we’re gonna be late!” Mari’s tail swishes irritably in the water. “Please tell me you’re packed.”

“Go suck a sea star,” Yuri's moan is muffled by the pillow.

Mari huffs in frustration. “Don’t blame me when Mom skins you.”

“Which one?”

“Both.” The water swishes as Mari swims away and the door closes.

Yuri chuckles to herself. She’s made that joke a thousand times and it never gets old.

She forces herself out of bed, stretching as she lazily swims across the room, pushing aside a curtain on the wall to let light stream in through the porthole. Yuri, her family, and the other elite merfolk of the Pacific Ocean live in a massive sunken cruise ship off the coast of Japan. Being the daughter of Lady Hiroko, overseer of the largest sea in the world, she has one of the fanciest rooms on the ship. The red painted walls are covered in seaweed and various small creatures. Bioluminescent plankton cover the gold-trimmed ceiling, lighting up as Yuri swims to the elegant vanity at the end of her bed.

Her Mama Toshiko helped her pick out the outfit she’ll wear on the journey to her first annual Council. The dress is a simple kimono, red silk decorated with flowers that flows around her tail, sits on her body like a robe, and cinches at her waist with a belt. The bell sleeves devour her arms and the ‘skirt’ floats up in the water around her as she puts it on. The other piece of the outfit is Yuri’s favorite headpiece that she made herself.

Instead of cloth - which is rare and only able to be bought by the elite for very special occasions - mermaids wear tiaras, crowns, or ringlets to express their status and personality. The elite usually have them made by artisans in cities, but most merfolk make their own using whatever stones, pearls, jewels, and shells they can find.

Yuri spends her free time swimming through coral reefs and sandbanks to find pretty things to make her tiaras with. She’s hoping to find some special pieces at the Great Barrier Reef to make a new tiara with. The one Yuri will wear today is covered in polished white, pink, and orange shells, bright pearls that line the bottom, and rose quartz shards that create a pattern across the large central shells.

There’s a soft knock as she finishes tying the kimono in place and her mom Hiroko enters the room. She pauses in the water, smiling as their eyes meet. “Oh, Yuri… you look gorgeous.”

She smiles, looking down at the silken dress. “Thank you, Mom.”

“Can I do your hair?”

Yuri sits at the vanity and hands her Mom a comb. She braids a strand down either side of her daughter’s head, bringing them together at the nape of her neck and braiding the rest of her hair down her back. When she finishes, Yuri’s mom places the tiara on her daughter’s head, making sure it rests perfectly in her hair and between the braids.

She sighs, meeting Yuri’s eyes in the mirror. “You look so beautiful.”

“Mom…” Yuri grumbles.

“I have to make sure treaty preparations have begun. Be outside before the sun moves, okay?” Hiroko hugs her and swims out the door, leaving a trail of bubbles in her wake.

Yuri takes one last look around her room to make sure she packed everything. She goes through her suitcases to check that everything is in place. She has other kimonos for the balls, simpler tiaras for every day, and her craft kit. Once she’s sure everything is there, Yuri takes up the bags and swims out of the ship.

Two blue whales wait across the sandbank from where the ship has settled to the bottom of the ocean. A litter carriage is strapped to the back of each whale, one larger than the other. Yuuri swims for the smaller litter where her family is packing up the back of the carriage. Hiroko speaks to her chief advisor Minako-sensei, who is also Yuri’s private tutor. As she hands her luggage to her mama Toshiko, she catches snippets of their conversation.

“Lady Anna has sent messages to all of the Council, begging them to ask the Queen for help in the Arctic,” Minako-sensei mutters. “The humans are moving further north, disrupting the whales and melting the ice.”

“We ask every year,” Hiroko begins. “Her Highness is never interested aiding the Arctic mer communities.”

“We have to try-”

“And we will, but there is no guarantee she will listen.”

“Girls! Come back!”

Yuri’s attention shifts from her mother to the commotion coming from the sandbank. Her close friends Yuuko and Takeko are chasing their triplets around in the water, the little mers giggling as they evade their parents. Those three have been begging to go to the Barrier ever since they could talk, and every year Takeko stays behind with them while her wife goes to the Council. They’ll have to catch their daughters first.

Toshiko follows her daughter’s gaze and chuckles. “Why don’t you get in the litter? I have a feeling we’ll be waiting for a while.”

Yuri does what her mama says, joining Mari in carriage and settling onto the soft, mossy seaweed. The carrier is closed off from the rest of the sea by four poster curtains, leaving the top open to let light in.

Mari smiles at her sister. “Glad to see you finally out of bed.”

“Shut up,” Yuri chuckles. “Any advice for my first Council?”

“Just have fun and don’t get too wrapped up in politics. Oh, and don’t start worrying about getting married until next year.”

~~~

Victoria sits on the edge of her bed, fingers weaving through the moss that cushions her body as she sleeps. The rocky cave of her room is quieter than it has been in the past few days. It’s early morning, just before the pod is supposed to arrive. Once they do, the caverns will be full of the sounds of mers scrambling to get ready and begin the journey to the Great Barrier Reef.

This is Victoria’s final Council that she’ll only be attending as a guest. Next year, she will be sitting in on the meetings, learning from experience what she’ll need to know for when she takes her mother’s place as Lady of the Arctic. She's waiting for her mother to burst in and demand what she does every single year.

The moment sunlight begins streaming through the cracks in the ceiling and a far off orca call sounds, the caves come to life with the murmur of mers and - right on time - Victoria’s mother swims into her room and begins drilling her.

“Are you all packed?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have your coat for the journey?”

“Yes.”

“Your ball clothes are packed?”

“Yes.”

“Your finest headpiece?”

“Wearing it.” Victoria gestures to the simple tiara nestled in her hair that glints from the polished white shells and small pebbles of gold it’s made of.

Lady Anna sighs and smiles proudly at her daughter. “Just as punctual as I taught you to be.”

The water swishes and the Lady’s chief advisor Yakova swims into the cave. She carries a bundle in her arms. Victoria’s mother turns and takes the bundle from her. “Thank you. WIll you take Vicky’s bags out to the pod and tell the hunters I'll be seeing them in just a moment?”

“Of course.” Yakova smiles at the young mer as she takes up her suitcases and swims out of the room.

Victoria turns to Lady Anna, who sighs at her daughter and forces a smile. "We're going to have a big first hunt this year. I just wish there was time to take a break between all these preparations."

Victoria nods and glances at the bundle in her mother's arms. “What is that?”

“It’s for you to wear on the journey.”

Her mother unfolds it to reveal and empire waist dress made of white linen and lace. The waist is belted with a string of gold and small shells. The sleeves are simple lace straps, the rare fabric adding gorgeous accents to the otherwise simple dress.

Victoria gasps and rises to take the outfit into her hands. “How…?” She can’t even finish her sentence. Most of her clothes are made of similar linen, but lace is almost unheard of. It’s hard to find and ridiculously expensive. The sleeves alone would have cost a fortune.

“My mother had it made for my first Council,” Lady Anna explains. “I’d like you to wear it for your last year as a free mer before you begin joining the meetings.”

“Thank you.”

Victoria treads with her back facing her mother, letting Lady Anna slip it over her head and button up the back. The lace is impossibly soft and adds perfect touches to the thin linen.

Lady Anna swims around to look at her daughter, smiling wide. “You look so beautiful.” She rests her hands on Victoria’s shoulders. “Darling, since you’ll be tied down with the meetings next Council, you should spend this time looking for someone to marry-”

“Mother,” Victoria cuts her off, immediately furious despite having expected this conversation. “I am _not_ wasting my time looking for a wife. I don’t need one to successfully rule the Arctic.”

“Victoria.” Lady Anna’s voice and eyes are stern. “I haven’t had any luck with the Queen for _years_ ; what makes you think you will?”

“I don’t need someone to raise my status just to have her Highness listen to me!”

“Enough!” Lady Anna pushes her daughter away. She huffs in anger. “Be outside in five minutes.”

Within seconds, Victoria is alone. She beats her tail in the water furiously. Lady Anna has been demanding she get married for years, preferably to the daughter of the Lady of a major ocean. The Arctic Ocean is small and isolated from the rest of the mer societies. Not many mers are able to live in the Arctic due to the cold and ice, and the ones who do live here live on the border of the Ocean, mostly in the caverns off an island volcano.

Because of this, the Lady of the Arctic has never had a high status amongst the Council, some of the governesses of major rivers holding a higher ranking title than the Arctic Lady. Victoria’s mother has therefore always been put to the side during the annual meetings. With human’s drawing closer and the whales acting more and more disturbed, Lady Anna has become desperate. She’s hoping that her daughter marrying a mermaid of high status will raise Victoria’s for when she becomes Lady of the Arctic, for then the Queen may listen to her and something might finally be done.

But Victoria is positive she doesn’t need the rank of a wife to get her Highness to listen to her. She can persuade the Queen to act without a power symbol on her arm.

With a frustrated ‘hmph’, Victoria takes up her seal-skin coat and swims out of her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, mermaids are half fish, half human. That part is obvious. They were created from the forbidden love between the land and ocean goddesses, which you'll read about later. Basically, every mermaid's tail is based off of an actual fish. Yuri and the Pacific mers are koi fish, Victoria and her mother are narwhals (no they don't have horns), the royal family are queen angelfish, etc. There can also be other underwater species that mermaids take their lower halves from like jellyfish, octopi, and stingrays in the case of Phichit-kun.  
> So, the mermaids do not have magic. I don't care about the idea that 'mermaids must be magical because they defy the natural laws of the universe!! How else are they supposed to BREATHE?!" With gills, you fucking idiots!  
> Anyway, they don't have magic and instead rely on technology, but not electrical technology. No. This version of earth is less fucked up than ours because mermaids have been around to gather up our trash and turn it into lots of different things, combining plastic, glass, and metal in underwater volcanoes they use as factories to create houses, furniture, building tools, transportation means to strap onto trained animals, etc. Anything that seems out of place in this story as 'really human' was manufactured this way. Yes, there are mermaid cities. No, humans haven't discovered them. Don't ask why, I'm too lazy to care. Maybe it's because we're idiots and only 5% of 75% of our entire world has been discovered.  
> So, yeah. That should cover the basics. Also, mermaids change their genitalia like clown and parrot fish to make babies. Anyone can do it, don't ask stupid questions.  
> Okay, that's it. Bye, lovelies!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their heir Mari follows close behind as well as her head advisors and the others on her team. As the Pacific mermaids approach the palace entrance, Victoria notices a figure she doesn’t recognize. She swims beside Mari and ahead of the advisors, hair black and body wrapped in red. This must be another daughter of Hiroko and Toshiko’s she’s never heard her. Victoria begins swimming closer, trying to get a better look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi... It's good to be back!  
> …  
> I'm sorry, guys. I know it's been nearly a year since I posted anything, but too much was going on. It's been a stressful time and I needed a break.  
> I don't know how often I'll be posting with school right around the corner and more stresses popping up every day, but it will be more than once a year. Hopefully...  
> I hope you lovelies enjoy the second chapter of On the Riptide of Glass Hearts.

_ Long ago, when divine forces ruled the earth and the eight other planets had yet to begin their orbit around the sun, Yurania the goddess of earth had grown bored of tending to the forests and animals and decided to walk further than she usually travelled. Eventually, she came upon the coast and a beautiful beach. She was entranced by the vast water and knelt by the waves. _

_ Just then, Otaseia, the goddess of the ocean, arose from the seafoam. The two instantly became enraptured with each other, talking late into the night and agreeing to meet by the coast again the next day. Yurainia and Otaseia met each morning for several years, eventually falling in love and deciding to create gifts for each other to prove their devotion to one another. _

_ Otaseia created humans to walk the land, caring for it the way her lover does so diligently while filling them with the lifeblood of her water. Yurainia made fish to swim in her lover’s seas and oceans, filling the waters up with colorful and strange creatures that depended upon her oxygen. They loved the gifts they received and were happy together for many more years. _

_ However, despite their greatest efforts, Queen Hirasha, goddess of the sun, eventually found out about the romance and became enraged. She had promised her daughter Otaseia’s hand to the moon goddess. She descended upon them one sunset, telling them that they had a single night and a single day left to spend together before she would force them apart forever. _

_ They wept all night and come the next morning, decided to commit one final act against Hirasha before the sun goddess could separate them forever. They combined their gifts to create the first mermaids to rule and protect the oceans. They remain in Otaseia’s domain, forever reminding her mother of the forbidden love between the land and the sea. _

 

**_~~~_ **

 

Despite the endless love Victoria has for her home, her favorite place in the world is the Great Barrier Reef.

The small slice of paradise simply teems with life of every color the eye could ever possibly see. The fish and octopodes and jellyfish and crustaceans and coral never cease to amaze her no matter how many times she’s explored every nook and cranny it has to offer. The long journeys there usually have her imagining all the places she and Christa will visit. This year, however, is different.

The Arctic mers ride their orcas out from home with a small crowd bidding them goodbye, swimming west until they reach the Bering Sea and beginning the long trek south. One of Lady Anna’s closest friends is a hunter, and she supplies the orcas for them to ride to the Council every year. They’re on the final stretch of that journey now, nothing but open ocean and the setting sunlight letting them know which direction to go as well as the occasional whale pod and mermaid town. All the while, Victoria has been thinking about what her mother said.

Status is very important amongst the Ladies and governesses of the world, especially when it comes to the Council meetings. The size and population of the body of water you rule over determines how worthy your opinion and issues are valued by the Queen of the Seven Seas, making Lady Hiroko of the Pacific the most powerful and wealthy of the Ladies because she rules over the largest ocean in the world. As the Queen rules from the palace in the Great Barrier Reef, she concerns herself mostly with the overarching concerns of the waters while the Ladies and governesses take care of the ones that affect their waters only. The Council is where the major Ladies and governesses come together to discuss and make final decisions on the major issues while the higher ranking Ladies also get to put forth the problems that affect only their ocean, hoping to get help.

Lady Anna has begged Victoria for years to find a wife of high status to aid them in their fight for the Arctic. Humans have been moving further north and disturbing everything there. The whales have been changing their migration patterns which throws off the food source for many communities during hunting season. They’ve become much more desperate as the Queen will not listen to them due to their status. Victoria has been incredibly unwilling to look for a wife ever since it was first demanded of her.

For starters, she just doesn’t feel ready and her options are quite limited. To truly be taken seriously by the Queen, Victoria would have to marry the daughter of a Lady of a major ocean who is at least third in line. Any lower than that and her status would hardly increase at all, and if she married an actual heir, one of them would have to give up their title, which would most likely be Victoria and there is no other heir to the Arctic Ocean.

She also simply refuses to believe that she will not be able to convince her Highness that the Arctic is an important issue. There is a team of advisors and smart mers behind her to help draft a good and profitable solution to the problem, one that will appeal to the Queen and the other Ladies. Her people cannot continue to be ignored the way that they are. Many communities have reported loud blasts and human machines drawing closer to their homes. The Arctic Lady and her advisors have to move fast to help before it’s too late.

But the reason that stands out above the others that Victoria would hate to admit to anyone - especially since dating Christa didn’t end so well - is that she does not want to end up like her mothers. Lady Anna married the sixth in line to the Atlantic title in an attempt to gain status. The two mers didn’t like each other and the Queen did not recognize a status change at all for Victoria’s mother, making the whole marriage a waste in her mind. The two separated soon after their only daughter was born.

She doesn’t want to be like Lady Anna. She wants to marry for more than a status, but none of her choices seem to be her type in any way. Lady Hiroko’s daughter is her heir, the daughter of the Lady of the Indian Ocean is almost ten years younger than her, and the Lady of the Atlantic Ocean’s daughter Jacqueline is the one mer on the planet that Victoria cannot bear to be around. Therefore, she feels that there’s nothing she can do, but she  _ must  _ do something for her sisters. So far, this has been the only option given to her.

Now, Victoria rides alongside her mother, playing with a bead on the belt of her dress as she thinks and thinks and thinks.

“Victoria?” Lady Anna’s voice is laced with concern. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, ma’am.” She turns to look at her mother. “I was just thinking about what you said.”

“That you should look for a wife this year?”

Victoria nods, averting her gaze. “I’ll try. Just this year… I’ll try.” She hears her mother’s approving hum. “But-” Victoria adds quickly. “-I don’t want you getting in the way. I will choose and you will accept my choice no matter who it is.”

“Of course, darling.” Lady Anna brings her orca closer to rest her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “I only want you to be happy.”

Victoria urges her orca forward and out from underneath her mother’s touch, focusing on the open ocean ahead of her. They’ll arrive at the Great Barrier Reef soon.

Sure enough, not a half hour later, the Reef appears in the distance, shining and glorious under the light of the setting sun. The palace is at the northern tip of the Reef, dug by hand into the rock of the trench off its side. The Arctic mermaids dive into the trench where below them, the entrance to the palace is marked by a blazing blue light.

Whale pods of all kind are being unloaded of bags and luggage, servants taking them into a hidden passage and to the rooms of their owners. The Ladies and governesses of major seas and rivers are gathered on the side of the trench across from the gloriously bright palace entrance, conversing amongst themselves as they wait for the procession to begin. Lady Anna leads her daughter and advisors to dismount by the back entrance and swim to the edge of the crowd. Their orcas are ignored by the servants for the most part, but that happens every year.

Victoria treads apart from the rest of the Arctic mers, watching the entrance to the palace from several whale-lengths away. She can see the Queen of the Seven Seas, tall and beautiful, with her wife and daughter beside her. Princess Christa is Victoria’s best friend. They met on their first year attending the annual meetings and started not-so-lowkey-dating afterwards. It didn’t last for very long and now Christa is married to Mayumi, the beautiful daughter of the Lady of the Nile River who happily gave up her title as heir to be with Christa as the future Princess Consort.

The song of a whale announces the arrival of Lady Hiroko and her advisors, the one who must start the procession and enjoys showing up fashionably late. The two blue whales that carried them from the shores of Japan settle at the top of the trench, and Victoria watches as the mermaids exit the litters on their backs and descend into the ravine.

Lady Hiroko waves to the other mermaids as she and her wife Toshiko swim towards the palace doors arm in arm. Their heir Mari follows close behind as well as her head advisors and the others on her team. As the Pacific mermaids approach the palace entrance, Victoria notices a figure she doesn’t recognize. She swims beside Mari and ahead of the advisors, hair black and body wrapped in red. This must be another daughter of Hiroko and Toshiko’s she’s never heard her. Victoria begins swimming closer, trying to get a better look.

“Victoria!” She turns quickly to Lady Anna who scowls at her. “Get back here and don’t stare, it’s rude!”

“Yes, m’lady.” Victoria does as her mother says, moving to tread beside her with her head ducked down. Lady Anna fixes her daughter’s hair, repinning it and adjusting the straps of her dress before giving her a smile. She smiles back at her mother and waits patiently by her side for their moment to enter the palace.

The Arctic mers will go last so they must watch as all the Ladies and governesses enter the palace. They slowly get closer to where two rows of armored guards line the path to the entrance. Their chest plates and helmets glimmer in the light streaming from every direction and reflecting every color back out from their surfaces. The entrance to the palace itself is as bright and magnificent as the gates to paradise. The path is teeming with plant life covered in bioluminescent plankton that cast the mermaids swimming down it in blue shadows.

Once the Lady of the Amazon River and her advisors have disappeared into the palace, one of the guards ushers Lady Anna and the Arctic mers down the path towards the Queen. Victoria holds her head high just as her mother does as they swim to the palace. Christa smiles widely at her best friend as they draw closer, and Victoria matches it with a grin of her own. They pause at the fins of the Queen and Princess Consort, bowing deeply.

“Your Highness,” Lady Anna begins as she straightens. “It is good to see you again.”

The Queen gives her a smile, clearly forced. “It’s good to see you as well, Anna.” Her head turns to the palace entrance. “There are servants waiting to show you to your rooms inside. We’ll see you at the ball tonight.”

They bow once more and move to enter the palace. Christa reaches out and holds Victoria’s hand for a moment. “Come to my room before the ball. I have the  _ perfect  _ dress for you.”

Victoria nods before following the others inside. They stop in the entryway, waiting patiently for the servants. It always takes them several minutes as they’re all busy showing the other Ladies to their rooms first. The corridor has several openings that lead down the two wings of the palace and one curtained entrance that leads to the ballroom. The entryway’s floor is laid out with beautiful plant life that create elegant patterns under the grande chandelier.

All modern mermaid homes are fitted with lighting systems similar to the ones here. Glass containers are shaped a way that magnifies and explodes the light inside it in every direction. The containers are then filled with bioluminescent sea creatures that shine their blue and white light everywhere. As the plankton have to be fed daily, many mers prefer the other way the corridor is lit: a hole in the ceiling with a glass crystal in the opening through which natural light shines and is sent around the room.

The sound of giggling turns Victoria’s attention away from the decor. Two mermaids tread hand in hand, smiling and talking to each other. The Arctic heir’s heart lurches as she sees one is wrapped in a red silk kimono, just like the second daughter of Lady Hiroko. Her tail is of a black, white, and orange koi like the Pacific Lady’s family and her black hair is braided down her spine, a gorgeous headpiece resting atop it. Her face is soft and round, skin in a constant state of blushing a soft pink that makes her look as sweet and cute as a seal pup.

The girl turns to the Arctic mermaids and her eyes find Victoria’s almost instantly. Her stomach flips and knots and her throat closes up. Mari’s sister’s eyes are round with irises the color of deep amber, brown with flecks of gold that catch the light and sparkle like the surface of the ocean. The mermaid flushes a deep pink as she realizes Victoria is staring, ducking her head away and slipping close to the side of her friend. A moment later, a servant leads the two away down the east wing of the palace, leaving Victoria to stare after them, her own fins having gone red themselves.

 

~~~

 

Yuri lies on the bed in her room in the palace, staring at the blank ceiling of stone as her mind races, hardly paying attention to Phaychit as she goes through her best friend’s bags.

“Yuri. Yuri.  _ Yu- _ ri…  _ Yuri! _ ”

“What?” She sits up quickly, loose hair floating up around her shoulders.

Phay laughs as her stingray wings carry her across the room to the bed. “Were you thinking about the girl in the entryway?”

“Maybe…” Yuri casts her eyes down, finger drawing patterns on the mattress. She looks back up the Phay’s adorable grinning face. “Do you know who she is?”

Her best friend giggles. “That was Victoria, daughter of Lady Anna of the Arctic.”

“Victoria…” Yuri repeats, watching the bubbles she used to say that name float up and pop against the ceiling.

Her heart had clenched when she saw the mer staring at her. Her hair had been cascading straight down around her shoulders, shining like moonlight and covering half of her gorgeous, angled face. Her eyes were what stood out: bright blue, glimmering and glittering, shifting between every shade imaginable in a matter of seconds. She was the most beautiful thing Yuri had ever seen… and had been looking right at her.

“Yuri!”

“What?” She looks to Phaychit again.

“You keep wandering off. Are you thinking about her?” Yuri nods. “Well then, you gotta find her at the ball!”

Her stomach drops. “No no no, I couldn’t. She probably already has a merfriend.”

“Not to my knowledge,” Phay counters. “C’mon, what’s wrong with a little flirting?”

“It’s just not something I do.” Yuri hugs her tail close to her chest. “Every time I’ve tried in the past, I always choke and never know what to say.”

“You don’t have to talk if you’re dancing.” Phay nudges her shoulder. “Come on, Yuri! Let me dress you up. She won’t be able to resist you when  _ I’m _ done with you.”

Yuri rolls her eyes but allows Phay to lead her over to her bags. She points out which one has her nice outfits in it and watches as she looks through everything inside.

“I was going to wear that one,” Yuri says as her best friend holds up a white kimono.

Phay looks at her like she’s crazy. “ _ This?  _ To a  _ ball? _ No. You are the daughter of the most revered Lady of  _ all.  _ You have to wear something that has everyone’s jaws dropping.”

Yuri’s fingers pick at her scales. “I don’t know, Phaychit… I don’t really want to stand out too much.”

Her best friend gives her a pointed look. “I refuse to let you leave this room in anything less than magnificent.”

Phay goes back to looking through the dresses. Yuri tries to look over her shoulder to see which ones she’s picking up and tossing aside. All the ones she was thinking about wearing are put onto the quickly growing pile.

“A-ha!” Yuri starts at Phaychit’s sudden, excited cry. “This!” She turns and swims up to tread in front of her best friend, holding out the dress she found.

It’s midnight black silk, the billowing skirt cut asymmetrically to flow backwards while the front is short to show the entirety of a mer’s tail. The bodice has a deep cut neckline which is outlined with shards of diamonds in varying sizes. It’s a dress Mari got her for her birthday, and she swore she would never wear it.

“Oh, no,” Yuri says, shaking her head violently. “I’m not going out of this room in  _ that. _ ”

“Why not?!” Phay cries. “You’d look so beautiful! It goes with your hair and will frame your figure-”

“It’s too… revealing! What would my mothers say?”

“Yuri, you don’t have a reputation to uphold.” Phay’s voice is comforting. “And it’s impossible to dent the reputation your mother has. At least try it on.”

Yuri gives Phay a look before she lets her best friend help her out of her procession dress and into the silk one. The fabric is so soft and smooth against her skin, the skirt flowing in the water around her tail like a dark cloud. Yuri sighs deeply before swimming to look at herself in the tall mirror against the wall. She can’t help the gasp that leaves her.

The mer that stares out from the mirror is gorgeous. The black silk highlights the dark patches of her tail and the sheen of her long hair. The deep cut of the neckline outlines just the slightest curve of her breasts, the angles making her features look sharp and elegant. The diamonds catch the light and make her shine. When Yuri lifts her hand to touch her hair, the mer in the mirror moves with her.

“That’s me?” Yuri’s voice is a whisper.

“Yes!” Phay grins widely as she grips her shoulders. “You look incredible! Oh, let me do your hair!”

Phaychit grabs Yuri’s arm and drags her through the water to the vanity, sitting her down and beginning to comb through the long strands of her hair. She watches her best friend through the mirror, occasionally looking down to meet her own eyes. Yuri’s fingers begin to tremble as her mind wanders. What if mers stare? What if Victoria doesn’t go? What if the Arctic heir doesn’t like her?

“Yuri, hold still.”

“Sorry.” She does her best to stay straight.

“Were you thinking about her?” Phay smirks at her.

“Yes, but not like that.” Yuri can’t help but look down. “What if she doesn’t like me? What if she didn’t even notice me in the entrance hall? What if I make myself look like an idiot in front of her?”

“Yuri,” Phay cuts in before she can continue. “If you don’t want to talk to her, you don’t have to. But if you do, there’s no way in the seven seas that she would ever not like you. You’re wonderful! If it weren’t weird because we’re best friends,  _ I  _ would date you.”

Yuri laughs at that, looking up to meet Phay’s completely straight face. “I’m serious!”

“I know you are.” Yuri smiles at her. “Thank you, Phay. I’d definitely marry you if you were my type.”

Phay gasps load and long, clutching at her heart.  _ “How dare you!” _

The two of them laugh, hugging each other close before continuing to get ready for the ball, Yuri’s mind rarely straying from thoughts of Victoria.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crowd turns to the ballroom entrance, treading back from the central floor. The guard’s voice trumpets through the room.  
> “Her royal highness, the Queen of the Seven Seas and Princess Consort Lea!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy, my lovelies!

_ For millennia, mermaids and humans lived side-by-side. Their alliance began with the Fertile Crescent in 10,000 BCE, when the mermaids of the Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile rivers helped local farmers create irrigation systems, catch fish, and traverse the rough waters. They later brought the irrigation techniques to the Indus River Valley and aided the Phoenicians in their trade around the Mediterranean. _

_ Ancient Greece is when the union flourished into an incredible empire. The mermaids taught the Greeks how to sail between their islands, create aqueducts and sewer systems, and utilize the water in their inventions. Then, Alexander the Great swept across the Mediterranean, raping and slaughtering mermaid towns as he went. After he died and Greece fell apart, the mermaids swore to never help humans again, setting the Library of Alexandria on fire to destroy all the written information men had on their species. They disappeared deep into the oceans, using knowledge of what they’d created with humans to build their own societies and government. _

_ Mermaids occasionally appeared to aid humans such as in Central America, where the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan was inhabited by humans and mermaids who lived peacefully and thrived side-by-side. However, when the mermaids saw the white men arrive in the city, they fled, fearing the wrath of those that killed so many of their kind thousands of years ago. _

_ They watched from a distance as mankind rose and fell and evolved and became static. They remained deep in the waters of the world, learning to hide themselves from the creatures that would kill them without thought. _

 

**~~~**

 

Yuri holds Phay’s arm tightly as they swim down the corridor to the entrance of the ballroom. Her heart is beating faster than seahorse fins, blood rushing through her ears. What if her mothers yell at her? What if everyone stares? What if she becomes an embarrassment to the Pacific court?

The friends slip into the palace entryway which is loud and bright, the ceiling lights glimmering and music and chatter coming from the now open door to the ballroom. The dozen mers in the entryway stop in their conversations to turn and look at the best friends. Yuri’s hold on Phay’s wrist starts cutting off her circulation.

“ _ Yuri? _ ”

She forces her eyes away from the gazes of the strangers to see her sister looking at her with jaw dropped. Mari swims towards them, leaving their mothers and Minako-sensei to gawk at the young mermaid. Yuri’s older sister takes her hands, still staring at her as if she can’t believe her eyes.

“You look…  _ incredible! _ ” Mari’s voice rises on that last word. “I can’t believe you finally decided to wear it!”

“Yuri,” comes Toshiko’s voice as she swims over, Hiroko close behind. Mari moves out their way. Her mama looks her up and down, meets her eyes, and smiles at her. “You look beautiful.”

Yuri feels her fins turning pink and ducks her head as she grins.

They all talk and complement each other’s outfits as they get ready to join the mers already in the ballroom. The drawn back curtain has revealed an enormous and brightly lit room carved from the stone of the trench. Two guards stand at the doorway and announce mers as they swim over the threshold and into the party. Hiroko checks her daughters’ hair before taking the arm of her wife and entering the ball. Yuri and Phay follow them, pausing to be announced, but Yuri hardly cares about what the guard says once she finally gets a good look at the room.

It’s more like a cavern, the walls of which are purely polished and smooth stone that gleams under the dozen chandeliers. The chandeliers are a huge expanse of coral growing down from the ceiling, bioluminescent plankton lighting up every inch of the small reef. Under it swims a large group of elegantly dressed mers. A quartet plays a sultry song on metal and stone flutes, one beating a large drum. The Ladies, governesses, and their families swim amongst each other, talking in groups as they wait for the Queen and Princess to arrive and perform the first dance.

Phay has to drag Yuri into the ballroom because she’s staring at everything, amazed at what she’s seeing. “It’s beautiful,” Yuri murmurs, still entranced.

“Yes, it is.” Phay clutches her arm tighter. “C’mon! We have to find your crush!”

Yuri snaps out of her daze. “She’s not my crush!”

Phay gives her best friend a look. “You turned to mush when you saw her and have been thinking about her all night. You’re definitely crushing on her.”

Yuri’s fins go pink again. Phay giggles and drags her friend deeper into the crowd.

They’re almost immediately stopped by the Lady of the Atlantic Ocean who smiles widely at Yuri, looking beautiful yet tacky in her dress over encumbered with diamonds.

“Hello, Yuri!” she says sweetly. “It’s so nice to finally meet you! Your mother never stops going on about you. I’m surprised Toshiko didn’t introduce us.”

“Well… she’s probably busy with my mom.” Yuri racks her brain for something else to say.

Phaychit butts in to save the day. “Lady Nathalie, how have the preparations for the treaty been coming along? Everyone in the Indian Ocean is incredibly excited about finally getting to trade with the Americas.”

Lady Nathalie lights up. “Everything is going perfectly! Our merchants are very excited about getting to trade with the other side of the world. Has your mother found a representative yet?”

“No,” Phay smiles, gesturing to Yuri behind her back. “But we’re looking very closely for one.”

Yuri follows the gesture and slips quietly into the crowd. She gets a good distance away from the Lady of the Atlantic before treading by the ballroom’s wall, rising in the water to see over the heads of the crowd. The hair of every mer in the cavern looks magnificent. They’re done in elegant braids and complicated knots with strands of brown, black, red, blonde, and gold catching the light beautifully. But no silver.

Yuri’s attention is abruptly pulled from the heads of the crowd once the quartet finishes a song and plays the royal march, announcing the arrival of the Queen. The crowd turns to the ballroom entrance, treading back from the central floor. The guard’s voice trumpets through the room.

“Her royal highness, the Queen of the Seven Seas and Princess Consort Lea!”

The Queen and her wife look exquisite as they swim into the ballroom, both draped in dresses of white lace. Her highness is larger than life in the way she holds herself so tall and proud. A massive crown rests in her hair, huge spiral shells, gold, and bits of diamonds making up its luxury and twinkling in the light. Yuri wishes she had the skills to make something so beautiful.

The guard’s voice blares again. “Her majesty Princess Christa and Lady Mayumi!”

The Princess is almost more beautiful than her mothers, cloaked in white silk, something Yuri has rarely seen before. Her scales gleam, her hair is done up in curls, and she swims with an elegance everyone in the ballroom could only ever dream of having. The two royal couples take their places on the dancefloor, the Queen speaking once the Princess treads beside her.

“Let the yearly Council begin!”

The crowd applauds as the quartet begins a waltz and the Queen and Princess begin the first dance with their wives. Yuri watches them move through the water, swaying with the music herself. She’s yanked out the of trance by Phay’s sharp tug on her arm.

“Ow!” Yuri grumbles. “What was that-”

“Shush!” Phay interrupts her. “This is your chance to find Victoria! A dance is a perfect icebreaker!”

Yuri’s fins turn bright red.

Phay ushers her around the ballroom, the two of them searching intently for any sign of silvery hair. Phay stops them periodically to ask the daughters of Ladies that she knows if they’ve seen Victoria. They all answer no. The Arctic Heir is apparently very elusive.

After the dozenth mer they ask gives them a negative answer and they’ve circled the ballroom three times, Yuri gives up.

“We’re not going to find her,” she says to her best friend, pulling her to a stop.

“Yuri!” Phay turns and scolds her. “You can’t give up  _ that  _ easily!”

“We’ve circled the ballroom three times,” Yuri reminds her. “It’s useless.”

Phay huffs, her bubbles disappearing into the cavernous space around them. “Then come dance with me!”

Yuri has no time to react before her best friend is dragging her through the crowd and towards the floor where a mass of swirling mermaids are dancing to an elevated waltz. They take up position and join the whirlpool, Yuri following her friend’s lead. Within moments, she’s smiling and laughing along with Phay as her best friend spins her and draws her back into her arms, thoughts of Victoria completely gone. The other couples stare at them as they giggle and lift one another and just generally goof off on the dancefloor. Yuri twirls out from Phay’s grasp once more, smiling wide as the water wraps around her like silk as the music rises into a glorious outburst.

Suddenly, she’s stopped. Arms catch her out of the spin and her skirt settles around her tail. Bright blue eyes meet hers and pale arms hold her close.

Victoria smiles at her and Yuri feels her fins go pink.

The Arctic mer’s grip loosens. “Hi.”

Yuri slips closer to her. “Hi.”

“I’m Victoria.”

“I know. I’m Yuri.”

Victoria chuckles. “I know.” She looks past her to Phay. “Mind if I cut in?”

“Looks like you already have.” Her best friend gives Yuri a thumbs up and swims back into the crowd.

 

**~~~**

 

She found her.

Victoria let Christa dress her up in a - clearly expensive - purple dress with gold threaded details in order to impress the mer the princess identified as Yuri. She refused to think about Lady Hiroko and her rank as she circled the ballroom three times looking for Yuri, and then  _ finally  _ saw her on the dancefloor with the young daughter of the Lady of the Indian Ocean when she had nearly decided to give up.

Now, Victoria treads back from the stunning Yuri in her black silk and diamonds and curtseys.

“Good evening, m’lady.” She straightens and holds out a hand. “Would you like to dance with me?”

Yuri smiles and places her hand in Victoria’s. “Very much.”

They take up position and slip back into the waltz, following the spiraling flow of the crowd.

Victoria is speechless for several minutes as she watches Yuri dance through the water, her dress moving like an ink cloud around her tail and the diamonds that outline her chest sparkling under the chandelier light. Yuri stares at her as well, amber eyes entranced in a way that makes Victoria’s fins go pink.

It takes a moment to find her manners and voice. “Is this your first year at the Council?”

Yuri seems to break out of her daze and shakes her head, giggling as she ducks her gaze. “Yes. I’ve been really excited to come ever since I was little.”

“Is it everything you expected?”

Yuri nods. “It’s that and so much more.”

Victoria’s fins burn deeper. Why is she so beautiful?

“What about you?” Yuri continues. “How many years have you been coming here?”

“About five. So, I’ll be joining the Council meetings next year.”

“Are you excited?”

“… not really.” Victoria scrambles to change the subject quickly. The other mer’s hair is swept back, held in place by her gorgeous, diamond encrusted crown. “Your headpiece is beautiful.”

“Thank you!” Yuri practically glows. “I made it myself.”

“Really?”

Yuri nods. “I have dozens. I’ve been making them ever since I was allowed to explore the reefs near home. I’d like to do it for the rest of my life.”

“As a career?”

“Yes! The mers in my mom’s court love them, and there’s good money in it.” Yuri sighs in bliss. “Making headpieces for Ladies would be a dream come true.”

Victoria smiles at her. “I’d love to commision one from you.”

“You can! I need something to do while I’m here, and I love taking up new projects.”

“You’d make one for me?”

“Of course!”

Victoria’s heart flips in her chest.

“What would you like?” Yuri asks with eyes lit up like stars. “I’m most comfortable with tiaras, but I can also do a crown or a ringlet.”

Victoria grins. “Surprise me. If it’s  _ anything _ like yours, I know it’ll be amazing.”

Yuri turns pink, matching Victoria’s grin. “Thank you. What about you? What do you love to do?”

Victoria’s smile turns nervous and she breaks their gaze to duck her head. “Well… I don’t do much for fun. I’m almost always working with or learning from Lady Anna.”

“Do you do anything to relax?”

Victoria’s shoulders drop and she smiles at Yuri again. “Sometimes, I’ll slip away to play with the seal pod that lives on the island. But mostly, I read.”

“Read what?”

“Anything I can get my hands on. I love history, but I’ve also read about biology and architecture and lots of fiction. It would be wonderful if I could publish my own book.”

They dance and talk the night away, sharing stories and making each other laugh. At the end of the night, Victoria swims with Yuri to her room, treading beside the door.

Yuri takes her hand. “I had a great time tonight. Would you… like to spend more time together… a-at least while we’re here?”

Victoria’s stomach twists into a knot. “I’d love that.”

“See you tomorrow.” Yuri gives her fingers a squeeze before letting go and slipping into her room, staring at Victoria over her shoulder as the door closes. It shuts with a click, and Victoria hugs herself tightly, twirling through the water and giggling like a mer gone crazy with love.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do you want to go to my room? You can tell me all the details of your night with Yuri.”  
> Victoria chuckles. “Nothing really happened.”  
> “Bull-shark.” Christa starts towards the royal wing of the palace, dragging Victoria along with her.

Victoria wakes up the next morning with her face stuffed into a pillow and her gown from the ball draped over her like a blanket. Victoria sits up and stretches, grabbing the dress before it can drift to the floor. Last night comes back to her in an instant and she can’t stop herself from giggling. She had danced down the corridor to her room from Yuri’s and was so overwhelmed with exhaustion by the time she got there, she didn’t bother to do more than take off her clothes before she collapsed onto her mattress. Victoria holds the gown up to her cheek, nuzzling it with the most ridiculous grin on her face.

A conch shell tone rings throughout the halls of the palace that makes Victoria jump. The first Council meeting is about to start. She tosses the gown onto the mattress as she bolts into the water, swimming for her bags to grab a headpiece. It takes almost too long for her to find her simple gold tiara. She puts it on as quickly as she can before swimming out of her room and to the door of her mother’s. She gets there just as Lady Anna enters the hallway.

“‘Morning, my Lady,” Victoria smiles at the older mer.

“Good morning, Victoria,” her mother responds, eyebrows rising. “You’re awake quite early.”

“I thought you might like some company on your way to the meeting.”

Lady Anna straightens. “Of course. Shall we?”

They start towards the front of the palace side-by-side. Other Ladies and their daughters exit their rooms to swim down the hall, ignoring the Arctic mers completely.

“Did you have a good time at the ball last night?” Lady Anna inquires.

“Yes.” Victoria swallows.

“I saw you dancing with someone.” She notices the smile on her mother’s lips. “Who was she? Her dress was exquisite.”

Victoria clenches her fingers into a fist and releases them. “Her name is Yuri.”

“Yuri.” The name is a purr on Lady Anna’s lips as they approach the Council room. “Who’s her mother?”

“Does it matter?”

“Perhaps.”

Victoria takes a deep gulp, her gills fluttering against her neck. She can feel the indents her nails are making in her palms. “Her mothers are Takeko and Hiroko.”

Suddenly, fingers are digging into her arms and her mother’s grinning face is so close that Victoria can’t tell which of her eyes is which.

“A daughter of the Pacific Lady?! That’s  _ perfect _ !” Lady Anna takes her daughter’s hands, holding them tightly. “You have to propose as soon as possible!”

“No!” Victoria pulls back from her mother, lowering her voice before she speaks again. “Can’t I fall in love with her first?”

“The humans are  _ not  _ going to wait for you to fall in love before they destroy our home!” Lady Anna growls in a sharp whisper.

The conch shell rings again.

Lady Anna sighs. “I have to go. Do  _ not _ let your sisters down, Victoria.”

She hangs her head as her mother swims away, joining the other Ladies entering the Council room.

“Vicky?”

She looks up to see Christa and Mayumi, their arms laden with books and writing utensils.

Victoria’s best friend swims forward. “Are you alright?”

“Not… not really.” She holds down a sob.

Christa’s brow furrows and she turns to her wife. “Will you cover for me?”

“Of course, love,” Mayumi smiles, taking her wife’s books, kissing her, and swimming into the Council room.

“What about the meeting?” Victoria asks.

“Don’t worry; they _ always _ argue about revealing ourselves to humans on the first day.” Christa wraps an arm around her best friend. “I can skip it. Do you want to go to my room? You can tell me  _ all _ the details of your night with Yuri.”

Victoria chuckles. “Nothing really happened.”

“Bull-shark.” Christa starts towards the royal wing of the palace, dragging Victoria along with her.

The Arctic mer has been in the royal chambers many times before, but it still manages to amaze her.

The stone walls become smooth and are polished to a near glimmer. Marble columns are set every whale length, guards in gleaming armor treading between them. They pass the empty Queen’s chamber and slip into Christa’s. There are crystal chandeliers and a sitting area and grand wardrobes and soft sheets on the four poster bed. It’s the height of mermaid luxury.

They lie back on the mattress together, staring at the plankton that swim along the ceiling as Victoria recounts what her mother said to the princess. “And now I have to decide between my sisters and my happiness. And I don’t know what to do.”

Christa sighs next to her. “I’m sorry, Vic.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But this is my fault.”

Victoria looks to her friend. “What do you mean?”

Christa is quiet for a moment, her eyes trained on the ceiling. “I should have reasoned with her more. The Arctic mers are my sisters too and I can’t convince my mother to help them.”

“Her stubbornness isn’t your fault,” Victoria assures her. “Neither are her backwards views.”

“I still feel awful.” Christa turns to look at her. “The only reason there hasn’t been total chaos is because the Ladies have spent years vetoing all Mom’s bills and executive orders. If she had her way…”

“Do you think you could take her position?”

Christa frowns. “No. I don’t feel ready. Even if I did, there’s no way for the Queen to be removed from her throne unless she abdicates it or dies.”

Victoria looks down to the soft linens. “So,  _ I’ll  _ have to help our sisters.”

“I guess so.” Christa sits up suddenly. “I’m tired of talking about depressing stuff.” A giddy smile spreads across her face. “Tell me about Yuri! Did you fuck her?”

“No!” Victoria sits up at her friend’s question.

“Did she fuck you?”

“No. There was no fucking.” Victoria brushes a lock of hair behind her ear. “We just danced and talked.”

“And?”

Victoria gives her friend a look. “What do you mean ‘and’? And nothing.”

Christa huffs. “Tell me what she’s like!”

Vic’s fins go pink. “Well… she’s sweet. It was so nice talking to her. She wants to make headpieces for a living and offered to make me one.”

“That’s adorable!”

“Yeah, but I doubt she remembers…”

 

~~~

 

Yuri swims out of the palace’s front door, heading for the reef at the top of the trenches with her shell collecting bag over her shoulder. She has some shells she’d like to use already in her trunk, so she only needs a base for Victoria’s headpiece before she can get started.

The rising sun shines through the water to give the coral an orange tint. The fish swim for their usual feeding spots, schools moving in perfect unison. Reef sharks idle around and an octopus slips into a crack in the rocks as she passes by.

The reefs span out to cover nearly every inch of the shallow water. They snake out like the arms of a massive coral, reaching out to grow in every spot of sunshine it can find. Small canyons separate groups of anemones, corals, and plants, often disappearing into small caverns or passing under stone archways. In those tiny trenches, all kinds of abandoned shells are scattered around, and Yuri dives into the largest one she comes across.

She swings her bag around to rest on her stomach while she scans the floor of the small canyon. Most of the shells she comes across are faded in their colors or broken in several places. Yuri grabs what decent ones she can find before moving on to another tiny trench.

After the sun has moved at least two times and Yuri is starting to tire of what feels like a lost cause, she sees  _ exactly  _ what she needs.

Her favorite headpiece she ever worked on was made from a giant clam’s shell. One of her mother’s advisors had brought her the shell and asked for a grande crown for an incredibly important ball they would all be attending. Yuri jumped at the opportunity to make it, spending days carefully turning the two halves into a whole crown and adorning it with decadent shells and gems. The crown was exquisite and she’s been dying to create another headpiece out of a giant shell.

Half-buried in the sand is a giant clam shell, nearly glistening in the sunlight. The shell is perfectly intact as Yuri lifts it from the bank. It’ll only take a bit of cleaning to get in perfect condition to work with. The mer excitedly tucks it into her bag before turning and heading back towards the palace.

Once in her room again, Yuri clears off the vanity and sets the shells down on the surface. She gets her kit before sitting down to clean and polish the new shells. Using the giant shell to make a tiara will be tricky since Yuri doesn’t have any heating tools to curve the material into the right shape. But the natural waves in the shell give it so much character. Perhaps…

Yuri digs through her kit to find her best tiara base. She props it on the vanity as she begins bending the wide center to be horizontal like a headband rather than the diagonal shape of tiaras. Once it’s bent, Yuri measures the curve against the bottom of the clam shell. Once the points are marked, she takes a little saw and begins carving along the line.

This takes the better part of an hour. Yuri goes as slow as she can, desperately trying not to break or crack the shell. She guides the saw back and forth through the material gently, never letting her focus stray. Eventually, the bottom part falls away, the perfect curve left behind to match the tiara. Once she smooths out the newly cut side, Yuri sets the shell against the base piece, making sure everything fits before she begins gluing. Now, the real fun can begin.

Aside from finding shells in the reefs, putting a headpiece together is Yuri’s favorite part of the process. Her artistic visions are able to come to life because of where her fingers place shells. The only part that sucks is getting her hands all sticky. Yuri lines the bottom of the clam shell with small spiral shells interspaced with roughly cut diamonds. She continues up with beautiful blue Madagascar shells and proud white spiral shells.

Finally, Yuri takes thin bits of shiny mica and pastes them to the top of the clam shell, arranging them into the majestic peaks of glaciers.


End file.
